DEFCON
Introversion Software's third title, DEFCON, a stunning online multiplayer real-time simulation game of global thermonuclear war. You play the role of a military Commander hidden deep within an Underground bunker. Your mission - to successfully exterminate your enemy's civilian population whilst disabling their ability to attack your own. Start by launching your battleships, subs and bombers in order to decimate your opponent's defences. Scramble together your alliances but remember only one can stand victorious. Prepare your pre-emptive strike before one of your supposed allies gets the same idea. Choose the perfect moment for betrayal, obliterating your opponents with an apocalyptic thermonuclear barrage, but get it wrong and their devastating counter attack will bring you to your knees! It's Global Thermonuclear War, and nobody wins. But maybe - just maybe - you can lose the least. Nuclear missiles in DEFCON are used to kill enemy population or to destroy enemy units. Nuclear missiles can be shot down by an enemy Missile Silo that is in Air Defense Mode, and by fighters, though this method is not as effective. Nuclear Missiles can be disarmed mid-flight (so as not to kill new allies or to prevent a mistake in targeting), though there is a delay of 100 in game seconds. In the game, there are three different types of Nuclear Missiles, and their statistics are below. LRBM/ICBM The Long Range Ballistic Missile, or Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, is launched from silos and has global reach, meaning that it can hit any target around the world. Missile Silos take 240 seconds to launch one Nuclear missile, so it is advisable to launch this type of missile in conjunction with other forces as to fill in the gaps between launches and strikes. When this type of missile is launched, an alert will be dispatched to the other players in your game, and the exact location of the silo will be revealed, meaning that opponents in the game will be able to retaliate against the silo that has launched a missile. MRBM The Medium Range Ballistic Missile is fired from submarines, and has a shorter range than the LRBM/ICBM. This type of Nuclear Missile can ONLY be launched from submarines. Upon launching this type of missile, an alert similar to the alert dispatched regarding a LRBM/ICBM launch will be dispatched to any enemy players. The alert will also detail the general location of the launch area, and will not reveal the exact location of the launch sites. However, to launch a MRBM, a submarine will have to be surfaced, and therefore extremely vulnerable to counter attack, as the submarine has low hit points. SRBM The Short Range Ballistic Missile is fired from bombers and has the smallest range of the three types. The SRBM can ONLY be launched from a bomber. This form of Nuclear Missile strike is not encouraged if fighter cover can not be provided, or enemy air forces suppressed, as bombers are very vulnerable to fighter attack, due to the fact that the unit has an attack bonus against bombers. A Nuclear Missile launch from this type of unit will not trigger any alerts to other players, which can be helpful if a stealth attack is favorable, as the enemy will have to use his or her RADAR to discover the bombers if a fighter attack is to be launched to stop the bombers from deploying their nuclear weapons against target. Fleets A fleet is comprised of between one and six naval units, with a group of six naval units sometimes being refered to (negatively) as a "Cartwheel". It is inadvisable to place your units Cartwheel formations, as you would only have two battlegroups of six units each per fleet which will cause an abnormally high vunerablitly to strikes targeting the warships. For information regarding individual naval units, please view their respective DEFCON Wiki pages: Carrier, Battleship, and Submarine, respectively. Controls * To place a full fleet simply left click six naval units from the Unit Toolbar and left click a location within your sea territory. * To place less than six units the crosshair below the fleet slots in the unit menu must be left clicked. * To remove a unit from an unplaced fleet, simply left click its fleet slot. * Fleets can consist of multiple types of units * Fleets are essential in winning a match, without a fleet, your enemy is all but free to roam around the seas, launch Bomber and Submarine strikes, and scout your territory with little resistance. Battleship A naval unit able to attack air units and other naval units (except submerged Submarines ). In the default gametype, each player receives twelve battleships. Attack Mode Attack is the battleship's only mode. Submarine A stealthy naval unit armed with five MRBMs and torpedoes. In the default gametype, each player receives twelve submarines. Passive Sonar Mode Edit Passive Sonar mode allows the submarine to remain submerged - undetectable, except to other submarines in Active Sonar mode or Carriers in Antisub mode. Unfortunately this renders the sub blind - with no radar or sonar range. Submarines in this mode will not automatically attack naval units, but may be ordered to do so manually. Active Sonar Mode Edit Active Sonar mode allows the submarine to remain submerged but still detect nearby naval units, which will show as a targetable ghost. This will display a Sonar Ping to any players with radar coverage of the submarine's location. Submarines in this mode will automatically attack nearby naval units. MRBM Launch Mode Edit MRBM Launch mode will cause a submarine to surface and ready its MRBM Nuclear Missiles for launch. When surfaced the submarine will receive a small radar range but will be extremely vulnerable to fire from nearby naval units and air units. If another mode is selected the submarine will submerge again, but remain vulnerable to fire until the new mode is active. Carrier A Carrier is a naval unit that carries five Fighters and two Bombers. This is the maximum that it can carry. Carriers also have four extra SRBMs to rearm empty bombers as they return from a Nuclear Missile strike. In the default gametype, each player receives twelve carriers that can be placed in the player's respective territory's seas. In the Variable gametype, different amount of Carriers and other units can be purchased with in-game credits. A player does not have to pay real-world currency for these credits, as a set number is given each Variable gamemode match, and will not deplete between matches (meaning that a set number is given for each match, and that number does not change). If carrier is attacked and in Fighter Launch mode, it will automatically launch a fighter at its attacker. Fighter Launch Mode Edit In Fighter Launch mode the carrier can launch one Fighter every 120 in-game seconds. At the start of the game Carriers have an outfit of five fighters. Switching to Fighter Launch mode takes 120 in-game seconds. This factor is something to consider, as it describes how frequantly a fighter can be launched. Bomber Launch Mode Edit When in Bomber Launch mode a Bomber garrisoned at the carrier may be launched every 120 in-game seconds. Carriers start with two Bombers and an additional four Nuclear Missiles of the SRBM catagory. Switching from any mode to Bomber Launch consumes 120 game seconds. Anti Submarine Mode Edit When in Anti-Submarine Mode, carriers will emit a SONAR ping every 60 seconds. If Submarines are found, the carrier will drop depth charges, dealing massive damage to any submarine hit. Switching to Anti-Submarine Mode takes 240 seconds.